If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

fair enough. hopefully venable shows some more power. last year he came on strong in that department and had a few multi homer games so you know its there. some people thought AA was too soon for venable and look how he's doing. i dont think he'd be overmatched if you rushed him

That is true his power numbers were much better in the second half at Fort Wayne than in the first. I do thinks its there but its just a matter of him feeling more comfortable with the tougher pitching he's seeing.

I was one who thought the team may have rushed him a bit promoting him to AA, but I do think jumping him up now you could screw up his power development.

Comment

Vince Sinisi will probably be the OF that could get called up if they need someone. He can play all three OF positions and first base in addition to hitting .330 in Portland.

Sinisi may end up being another Little surprise. I dont know if Hudgins will come through but I doubt Guzman will crack Texas' outfield anytime soon. He's hitting .239 but he does have a decent OB % of .373. He has 8 steals but he's been thrown out 5 times.

That trade may work out well. I wonder if Texas regrets trading with the team that hired their scouting chief.

Latos is a prototypical hard-thrower K-dominant guy from what I have read.

Do you, jetranger or RP think that the team needs to draft (and sign) more of those types? The reason I ask this is that the team seems to have a lot of finesse pitch-to-contact guys as starters at the higher levels, and the team doesn't seem to have anyone (healthy) who is highly regarded and can throw hard, like a Matt Cain type.

Basically, can you identify the organization's current strategy on drafting starting pitchers? Is it different from that under Towers, and if so, how? Is it a worthwhile strategy?

Comment

Latos is a prototypical hard-thrower K-dominant guy from what I have read.

Do you, jetranger or RP think that the team needs to draft (and sign) more of those types? The reason I ask this is that the team seems to have a lot of finesse pitch-to-contact guys as starters at the higher levels, and the team doesn't seem to have anyone (healthy) who is highly regarded and can throw hard, like a Matt Cain type.

Basically, can you identify the organization's current strategy on drafting starting pitchers? Is it different from that under Towers, and if so, how? Is it a worthwhile strategy?

IMO, before Carrillo got hurt he was the best of both worlds, a fastball that sat in the 92-95 range with great control. In the upper levels AAA and AA you don't really see anyone who is like that. Thompson, Ekstrom and Ramos all profile as #4 or #5 starters on the MLB level if they reach their potential- which is good, but not great.

At Fort Wayne there are two pitchers that have the potential to eventually develop into top of the rotation guys, Aaron Breitt and Drew Miller but they are pretty far away.

To try to answer your question, the past two drafts, the draft and follow signings and scouting in Latin America the Padres have tried to find more guys who are like the Latos profile, but they are few and far between. There are just many more finnesse pitchers in the draft and in professional baseball. Also a great many power pitchers can't find the strike zone.

That is why I think it is really important to get the deal done with Latos, he has the potential to be a top of the rotation starter. There are quite a few questions about him [I want to prevent Henry and Scalma for penciling him in above Peavy in 2008 ) but anyone that is his size, age, velocity and command you have to take a chance on.

Comment

what about leblanc? i think his future is brighter than ramos,thompson,etc. i actually thought coming into this season he was our 2nd best pitching prospect behind carrillo. when i saw him pitch this year at lake elsinore he impressed me. hes got a sick curveball

Comment

what about leblanc? i think his future is brighter than ramos,thompson,etc. i actually thought coming into this season he was our 2nd best pitching prospect behind carrillo. when i saw him pitch this year at lake elsinore he impressed me. hes got a sick curveball

I didn't put any of the guys in high A there, but yes LeBlanc has pitched well. I think both Thompson and Eckstrom are a little better than him, but we'll have to see. Actually I kind of like Ayala a little more than LeBlanc on the Storm.

The real test for LeBlanc will be AA. I'm just not sure he has enough of a fastball to set up his other pitches. College pitchers like LeBlanc without any blazing fastball, but who are very succesful are really tough to evaluate on how good they will be at the next level.

Comment

thing i like about leblanc is his ability to strike out guys. he did it in college and hes doing it in the minors. i know he doesn't have a great fasball but from what i remember he was consistently around 90 with it. mix that in with his big curve and it works. just look at zito.

He has had only one year where he averaged over 1k per inning, and he is not doing that so far this year (but it's early). He is not yet a strikeout guy, and if you were going to make a reasonable forecast, you would expect his K rate to drop as he progresses up the levels, not increase.

Comment

2-1 2.92 ERA, in 24.2 IP/20 Hits and K/BB ratio of 20/9, batters are hitting .227 against him

Its just really hard to tell with guys like this, then again going into 2005 I had Tim Stauffer and Brad Baker #1 and #2 on my list for Padres' top prospects...both put up very good stats in '04, then got smoked in '05.